Saturday, 4 April 2009

MPs expenses in Kent

Letter to the Kent Messenger in response to their piece on MP's expenses this week. This is the link to how the Maidstone MP voted on allowances last year.

Dear Editor,

It was good to read that Ms Widdecombe is one of the lower claimants for MPs expenses in Kent, especially as she voted against MPs expenses being made public last year.

The whole system of expenses is a mess, as almost everyone agrees, and the mess has clearly been driven by a desire to mask pay rises. As someone who commutes to London from time to time, there is simply no need for any MP in West Kent to claim a second home allowance. Although the train service from Maidstone is not great it is certainly easy to get to and from Westminster in a reasonable time.

We urgently need transparency for MPs expenses. These people hold immense power and can only be accountable to the electorate if we know what they are getting up to! It is no wonder people are disenfranchised when they are kept in the dark by politicians.